Joint accounts versus separate accounts?

[DerekLava]

We are dual income and have joint accounts.  We are on the same page, any major expenses we talk about first.

For those that do the luxury/allowance/separate accounts, my question - If you are going for a weekend at Pebble Beach, I see that coming out of the individual account but if you are going golfing at the local course, is that coming out of your joint spending or more likely your individual account?

[jfoxcpacfp]

DerekLava wrote:

For those that do the luxury/allowance/separate accounts, my question – If you are going for a weekend at Pebble Beach, I see that coming out of the individual account but if you are going golfing at the local course, is that coming out of your joint spending or more likely your individual account?

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It depends upon the joint budget. Cash flow in a household is a very personal issue. If the weekend is for you alone and is not included in the budget, probably the individual account. If the weekend will cost only a few hundred dollars out of a $10k/year travel budget, the joint account might make sense. But I believe every couple should have a spending limit for the joint account that requires a unanimous vote - say $500 or $1,000 or whatever is appropriate for your family. Under that, you are free to pay. Over that, you either put it up for a vote or it comes out of the separate account.

[OrthoInAL]

Dual income, joint account. We’re on the same page financially, and I can’t express how much easier our lives have been since joining accounts. For fun we still play Rock, Paper, Scissors at dinner to see whose credit card we use  :P

[hightower]

1 Physician household, wife works full time too.  We have joint accounts.  Technically my paycheck goes to a different checking account than my wife's paycheck, but we both have joint ownership of each of those accounts.  All of our spending is done with credit cards and I pay them off with our checking accounts.

I think there are pros/cons to doing it this way vs separate.  Not sure which is better. I have friends who keep separate accounts and it works fine for them too.

There are sometimes minor arguments (mostly me complaining) over spending.  But, we've learned to deal with it.  I'm pretty fortunate that my wife is naturally fairly frugal, though she does sometimes go overboard with buying things for the house.  We're generally on the same page anyway.  She let's me manage all our finances so I sometimes see charges on our Amex that I think are frivolous, but I have learned to pick my battles.  For instance, if it's a single $200 charge in a month and it makes her happy, I usually just keep my mouth shut.  If it's multiple $200 charges in one month for things we really don't need or have budgeted for, then I might gently say something..."remember we're on a budget trying to pay down debt, etc"  I too overspend sometimes, so I have to keep that in mind before I say anything.  We generally agree when we've been spending too much though.

[Medikit]

Dual income, joint accounts, I manage all the bills. We notify each other of potential large purchases.

[jfoxcpacfp]

OrthoInAL wrote:

For fun we still play Rock, Paper, Scissors at dinner to see whose credit card we use

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That's hilarious. I wonder how many fights could be avoided with Rock/Paper/Scissors. Might actually be a fun suggestion for some of our clients!

[q-school]

jfoxcpacfp wrote:

OrthoInAL wrote:

For fun we still play Rock, Paper, Scissors at dinner to see whose credit card we use 

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That’s hilarious. I wonder how many fights could be avoided with Rock/Paper/Scissors. Might actually be a fun suggestion for some of our clients!

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but doesn't rock beat everything?  why does anyone not choose rock all the time?

 

[jfoxcpacfp]

q-school wrote:

jfoxcpacfp wrote:

OrthoInAL wrote:

For fun we still play Rock, Paper, Scissors at dinner to see whose credit card we use

Click to expand…

That’s hilarious. I wonder how many fights could be avoided with Rock/Paper/Scissors. Might actually be a fun suggestion for some of our clients!

Click to expand…

but doesn’t rock beat everything?  why does anyone not choose rock all the time?

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No - paper covers rock.

[DMFA]

q-school wrote:

jfoxcpacfp wrote:

OrthoInAL wrote:

For fun we still play Rock, Paper, Scissors at dinner to see whose credit card we use 

Click to expand…

That’s hilarious. I wonder how many fights could be avoided with Rock/Paper/Scissors. Might actually be a fun suggestion for some of our clients!

Click to expand…

but doesn’t rock beat everything?  why does anyone not choose rock all the time?

 

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Poor, predictable q-school... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg5g0bvxyes

[q-school]

https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.-niYjmkZRZA-CkVc246_WwD6Es&pid=Api

[wideopenspaces]

Keeping separate accounts seems unnecessarily difficult, especially if you have children. I can see the point of separate" fun money" accounts but not for day to day expenses and bills. We've always done a joint account. We've never fought about spending. We talk about everything though so I always know when my husband is going to buy something and vice versa. I'm the one that does the budget and financial planning but I keep him up to date on everything so he's always in the loop.

[Millenial Doc]

Wow...seems like a lot of people have joint accounts. Two physician couple here...we have separate accounts (checking and taxable brokerage). However, we each have full access to each other's accounts and there are no secrets.

Assuming there are no spending problems, A joint account to me just seems like too much risk, especially for a 2 physician couple. Malpractice suit for one of you and everything could be liable. With separate accounts only half can be taken away (if you are not in one of those community property states)

[Molar Mechanic]

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock for a real challenge.



 

One income, one account.  Tried to separate into free spending accounts a while back, but I inevitably screwed it up.

Our system is dependent of free cashflow.  Pay the bills, pay the taxman, pay the retirement accounts, pay the bank.  Whats leftover gets divided by the investments, and the fun money.  The bank will be paid off in a time i can stomach at rates I can stomach, so I'm not sacrificing to pay them earlier than I am.  The risk here is that fun money fueling that hedonic treadmill, but the investment accounts so far are keeping up and will be flush when I'm ready to quit working.

 

[Tuxedo]

Dual physician couple.  Joint accounts*.  I can only recall one argument about money (how much to spend for rent after our most recent move) in 8 years.  We like the idea of transparency.  No secrets.  She can also rifle through my cell phone any time she pleases.  Nothing to hide.

Generally we can buy whatever the heck we want but in formulating my reply I realized there are some things that get vetoed regardless of how much $ we have...she says no AR-15 for me, I say no cat for her.

I think it's peculiar to be out with another married couple, who own a house together, and watch them debate who would pay (in the circumstance where the have separate accounts).  Or for just one of their names to be on the checks.  Or to pick and chose who pays what bill.  I understand the logic and realize it is common but it still just strikes me as odd.

On a semi-related note, an unmarried couple bought a house together and an accountant friend commented that "buying a house together is more legally binding than marriage in most states".  Ha!

*We do each have 1 separate credit cards that predate our marriage that we only keep for the purpose of surprising each other at our birthday or Christmas.

[CM]

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